Credit-Card Scammer Gets Six Years

LOS ANGELES (CN) – A Los Angeles man was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution for a credit-card scam against dozens of elderly victims. Doren Ward, 37, was sentenced to 76 months in prison on Tuesday and ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Ward was part of an international group whose members posed as cardholders and asked credit companies to send replacement cards to Southern California, ostensibly so they could shop while on vacation, prosecutors said. Ward and others members of the scheme picked up replacement cards from mail drops, then used fake IDs to spend more than $300,000 on Rolex watches, jewelry and other luxury items, prosecutors said.A jury in June convicted Ward of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft. Ward told U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter during his sentencing that he did not know the credit cards belonged to victims of identify theft, many of them elderly. But prosecutors said that though Ward was arrested in August 2011 for a botched attempt to buy a $31,000 Rolex watch, he continued to use the fraudulently acquired replacement cards. After he was arrested, IDs for 14 of the 45 victims were found in Ward’s apartment. Another member of the gang, Sedrick Bagby, has been sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay $288,000 in restitution. Bagby pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.